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Gravewaker

Creature — Bird Spirit

Flying (This creature can't be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach.)
{5}{B}{B}: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.

CMC
6
Mana cost
{4}{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Jumpstart
Price
$0.14
EDHREC rank
#17355
Buy on TCGplayer
Gravewaker card art
Gravewaker turns any creature in your graveyard into a recurring threat — pay five mana and exile it to put it directly onto the battlefield, no cast trigger required. The cost is real, and Illuminor Szeras can offset it by sacrificing creatures for mana, but even without support Gravewaker earns its slot in any deck that wants a reanimation engine stapled to a body.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Gravewaker does its best work — graveyard recursion at instant speed on a repeatable body fits naturally into Grixis, Sultai, and mono-black reanimator strategies. In competitive formats like Legacy and Vintage, five mana is too slow and too easy to disrupt compared to dedicated reanimation spells, so Gravewaker sees virtually no play there. Modern and Pioneer have similar issues: the format's pace outstrips what a five-mana activated ability can realistically accomplish. Stick to Commander, where the longer game and synergy-rich environment let Gravewaker do what it was built for.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

1 decks
Illuminor SzerasIntruder AlarmGravewaker

Illuminor SzerasIntruder AlarmGravewaker

Infinite black mana; Infinite death triggers; Infinite ETB; Infinite LTB; Infinite mana creatures you control can produce; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite untap of creatures; Infinite untap of creatures you control

View on Commander Spellbook ↗
0 decks
Infested ThrinaxGravewakerPhyrexian Altar

Infested ThrinaxGravewakerPhyrexian Altar

Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite colored mana; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite creature tokens; Return all creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$0.14 bulk tier

At $0.14, Gravewaker is firmly bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in or cheap addition to any order. Bulk rares with genuine Commander utility tend to stay in this range unless a breakout deck puts them on the map, so don't expect appreciation, but at this price there's no reason to hesitate.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.